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Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

Hi All,

My LO is 11.5 months and we've almost made it a year (despite some challenges, biting, etc.)! However, I'm so overwhelmed by trying to get his feeding schedule figured out, as he is losing interest in some of our nursing sessions. I'm just wondering if any of you could share your approximate schedules - times, foods, nursing/bottle/sippy cup, etc.? Currently his schedule is:

Wakes between 6 & 7, nurses at 7
Sometimes he goes back down between 7:30 & 9
Breakfast around 10:15 - 4 oz BM in a bottle plus either cereal/fruit, yougurt, oatmeal, etc.
Lunch around 1:30 - 4 oz BM in a bottle plus cereal and a veggie
I nurse him when I get home between 4:30 and 5
Dinner around 6:15 - Meat/veggie, maybe some cereal, fruit/yogurt for dessert, juice/water in sippy cup
Nurse before bed at 8
He usually wakes up once during the night (between 1 & 4 am to nurse)

He gets snacks during the day too, cheerio's, gerber puffs/yogurt bites, etc. sometimes with juice/water in sippy cup

He is getting his top teeth in right now, so I'm not sure if that is contributing to the loss of interest in some of the nursing sessions (mainly the 7 am one). I REALLY want to introduce "real" food - fruits, veggies, pasta, chicken, etc., but am totally clueless. I'd love to know what other moms are doing! Also, I've read alot about some moms who only nurse in the morning and night, so am wondering if it's time to hang up my pump and just move to that with him getting a sippy cup of milk throughout the day.

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

Congrats on nearly getting to that first birthday!!!

Your baby's nursing frequency seems very typical for a nearly year-old baby. If I were you, I would keep things more or less as they are until your baby reaches a year. At that point, you can definitely drop some pumping sessions and replace them with whole dairy products, if you're feeling done with pumping. With respect to solids, you can begin offering "real" food any time you feel ready. Many moms skip purees altogether, and just let their kids self-feed from the beginning. You can just offer table foods- cut them into non-choking-hazard sizes and let your LO dig in! You might want to check out the introducing solids forum for good suggestions on solids for the beginning self-feeder.

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

DD is 10.5 months. She usually nurses first in the morning when she wakes up around 7. Then eats breakfast with the family. She pretty much eats the same foods we do. Typical breakfasts will be: cheerios and fruit, whole grain pancakes (no syrup, applesauce instead for her), eggs, etc... For example, today she had some bagel with cream cheese and some blueberries. She then nurses or gets a bottle of EBM before her nap at around 10 (depending on if I am working). Lunch is again whatever we are eating. Peanut butter being the main exception. Today we had chicken noodle soup. She ate the noodles, shredded chicken and veggies. She nurses/has a bottle before her afternoon nap at around 1pm. Somedays she will nurse again when she wakes up. Dinner is around 6pm. We do a mix of BLS and purees. If the family dinner has a veggie she has difficulty with such as artichokes, I will make her some pureed squash instead. Last night she fed herself salmon, mashed potatoes and corn. She nurses again at 8pm before bed. She usually wakes at around 11pm and I bring her to bed with us. Since we co-sleep the rest of the night she pretty much nurses on and off from that point. I honestly don't know how many times since I am in a fog and don't bother to look at the clock .

I hope to drop down to one pumping session at work in the next couple months and eventually drop the pumping altogether a couple months after that. The all night nursing is taking its toll on me, so I am thinking of trying to night wean after a year.

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

My 11.65-month daughter's schedule is

Wake and nurse around 7-7:30
Nurse again before I leave in the morning around 8:30
takes only about 6 oz EBM at daycare, she has ALWAYS fought bottles and it's only gotten worse in the past month or so
She eats a good snack and full lunch at daycare, water as she wants it all day in a sippy
Nurse when I get home around 6 or 6:30
Nurse a bit off and on while she and I play until dinner at 7:30(drive-bys)
Dinner is basically whatever we eat for dinner, minus hot sauce or whatever, 2 oz or so water in a sippy
Nurse to sleep around 8:30-9
Wakes up a variable amount of times in the night to nurse, from 3-7 times, depending on how teething is going that day.

When we are together all day she doesn't nurse all that much during the day, probably by habit. Probably 7am, 8:30, 11:30, 3:30, and then back on schedule 6:30-7:30 (drive by session) and nurse down to bed.

Wow, I guess we are still nursing at least 7 times per day even when she's at daycare. Writing this out actually makes me feel better- I was worrying that pump weaning could quickly lead to weaning-weaning but I guess my almost toddler is still pretty interested in the boob.

Mom to Taiga born 6/2010Pocket cloth diapers. Baby led solids. Full-time working mom. I my DH, DD, kitty Dr. Benway, and my working border collie Odin!
BF for 1 year and she and I still love it !!!!

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

My almost 13 month old has been following this schedule for some time now:

wake at 6:30 or 7, nurse around 7:30.
I make my coffee and some toast/waffle/muffins and we share that. Often he does not eat much food when I'm around, but he will eat some toast and maybe some fruit.
Water in a sippy after/during breakfast.
Nap from 9:30 or 10-11.
Nurse around 11:30 or 11:45 then I go to work or we go out.
He eats some of my lunch, some bread, banana, yogurt, a few pieces of chicken or whatever meat I'm having, and has water in a cup.
Nurse around 2:30 before he goes down for a nap.
He wakes up and we start getting dinner together, I let him snack on cereal bars, cheerios, yogurt melts (his fave), or some goldfish.
Brief nursing session around 5-6.
He eats whatever dinner he is in the mood for, same food we eat. Lately he is not eating much at all, he waits for a Gogurt yogurt tube and lots of cheerios/other handheld foods. Water in a sippy.
Nurse right before bed around 8.

When I am at work, he only takes a few ounces from a bottle of my milk mixed with whole milk (soon to be only whole milk, there are 3 bags left in the freezer! woohoo!). He also eats a lot more when I'm not around to nurse.

I've stopped making myself crazy if he doesn't eat enough food, as long as he's still nursing I'm fine. He will reach for food when he wants it, so that is nice.

Oh, yeah, I gave up pumping almost a month ago and it has been WONDERFUL. I had over 50 ounces in the freezer, so my mom and DC used purely frozen until he was a year, then it has been a mix of my milk and whole milk ever since just so we can use it up. Honestly I think he would have been fine with just the whole milk while I'm gone for the last few weeks, he has lost interest in bottles.

You're doing great! It is way easier than I thought it would be after a year. And the no pumping is great for sure.

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

hi, right now we're
6:30wake up, short nursing session (too full from all night nursathon apparently)
7:30: we eat breakfast: waffles, blueberries, toast, raisin bread something like that. water.
8:30 nursing sesion. often goes back to sleep..but this nap is getting shorter.
9:30: sometimes have a snack, puffs or cheerios etc. especially if going out
1030/11:nursing--if we are out, sometimes this session is dropped.
12ish: lunch: some meat, some fruit, some veg, water
1: nurse before nap
3: a drive by, snack time: usually fruit
5: another drive by, man i'm realizing she nurses a lot still!
5:30/6: dinner: usually what we're eating, some combo of meat, grain and veg. she's a real carnivore
7: nurse before bed
Wakeups/nursing all night..

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

Your schedule sounds perfect. Really after 1, weaning can happen as slow or as fast as you want.. and thats why you hear some of us saying they only nurse 2x daily or some (like myself) that nurse several times a day.
Really it just depends on you and your baby and how you guys feel. At times my son is less interested and i'm like... are we weaning? And then he'll pick back up and i'm like.. well, I guess no!
And pumping at work is totally up to you too.
My friends all pump weaned somewhere around 12 months and I didn't. (I'm a weirdo I guess still pumping 3 times a day at work for a 20 month old, but I really don't mind so much)
My friends that pump weaned dropped to like 2 or so nursing sessions a day around that same time due to supply I think and just what they wanted to do.
I wanted to give my son the oppurtunity to nurse as often as he wanted to and get as much milk as he wanted so thats why I still pump. Yes I get like half of what I did a year ago.. but I'm happy he's decreasing it on his own : )

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

lol I just noticed all of your babies wake up at around the same time, mine too! but then again maybe you wake them up, what do I know... I just wanted to point that out and congratulate you for nearly making it to a year, DS is also 11.5 mo and Ive tried to keep track of his nursing schedule but all I can say is he doesnt go an hour w/o it... her nursing even more now... I also feed him whateer we eat, I cook and avoid msg, canned and processed stuff, too much salt so were ok

Re: Feeding Schedule for almost 12 month old

My DS is almost a year too, so I'm glad you asked this question. It's amazing how much breastfeeding changes through the year, and it was nice to read these responses to see that our schedule really isn't all that different than everybody else's (including the wakeup time--too funny!).

sometime between 4-6: nurse a LOT, then back to sleep
7:00 up for day, nurse a little (just to help him "wake up" and reconnect with Mommy)
9:30: breakfast (yogurt, fruit, some sort of grain)
10:30 nurse and nap
1:00: lunch (cereal, veggie, fruit, some sort of grain)
2:30 nurse and nap
6:00: dinner (stage 3 jar and bits of whatever we're eating)
7:00: nurse to sleep

In between our "scheduled" feedings, there is "drive-by" nursing (to steal a term from a PP) and some snacks. For example, I'll have a pear or an apple and share little bites with my DS--he LOVES this more than feeding himself from his tray. It also helps me eat better since he insists on sharing whatever I eat, and I'm not interested in sharing cookies/chips with him.